EXTRACTION AND ISOLATION OF Β-AMYRIN FROM FICUS ELASTICA

Abstract

There is a huge interest in medicinally active constituents isolated from plants. β-Amyrin is a member of the class of pentacyclic triterpenoids and it is oleanane substituted at the 3 β-position by a hydroxyl group and containing a double bond between positions 12 and 13. These triterpenoids are generally found in many medicinal plants. The β-amyrin is generally extracted and isolated from leaves and oleoresin (latex) exudates by bark incisions of the plant sources from many plant species. The β-amyrin isolation described in this article was by a novel method developed for isolation. Triterpenoids are constituents that have shown a great interest in recent years due to their pharmacological potential, with numerous therapeutic activities, such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-diuretic, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory. Due to the wide range of activities of β-amyrin, research has been undertaken to isolate it in a simple way. The isolated β-amyrin was characterized, and confirmed by multiple analytical methods.